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wait-what-no-way · 7 years

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Interview with EGOR IMOK

What’s happening dude? How has life been?

Pretty good for the most part. Working a lot, paying the bills, getting some spritzing in whenever I get the chance.

So why EGOR? How did that name come about?

Well growing up as a kid I watched a lot of Mel Brooks movies. Young Frankenstein was one of his movies in particular that I had watched a lot. Igor, played by Marty Feldman, was by far my favorite character from all of his movies. I started off like most writing a few names prior to the one I stuck with. I was doodling one day while I was watching Young Frankenstein and I guess I just liked the way it looked and liked the reference.

You’ve been writing for a while now… How long has it been?

I had always loved graffiti. I didn’t know anyone though growing up and was really ignorant when it came to computers so it was hard for me to learn the “rules” of it all. In ‘06 I moved and transferred into a new high school. That school had a good amount of writers there and a few of them were in multiple classes of mine, specifically Taks, Dang and Slakr. Those guys pretty much took me under their wing and showed me how the way to go about things right.

I know you’ve definitely hit some heaven spots. What were those experiences like?

It’s always an adrenaline high for me. Before I started writing, like a lot of others, I was big into skateboarding. I still go out here and there, but not like I used to. I guess the adrenaline rush I got from skating transferred over to painting for me, and hitting those high up spots is like skating a big stair set.

What country/ state/ island, do you think you have the most ups in? You’ve done quite a bit of traveling.

I don’t look at one area and say I have the most ups there, because I don’t know what the general graffiti world considers up now these days. Is it the amount of throwies, pieces or hours logged?

What’s your preference as far as spots? Trains/ track spots? Street spots? Abandons?

It really all depends on where I’m at and what time of the year it is. In the summer it’s fun to paint freights and abandos. In the winter all I want to do is lurk around and bomb. Mexico is great for huge illegal throwies on Main Street. Hawaii is all about the cutty mountain waterways. New York is dope for a little bit of everything.

When you paint abandons, what’s one of the creepier things you experienced?

I have been to a good amount of spots and have experienced some messed up things. I have seen dudes shooting diesel to hookers working some johns, but anything you think is weird or creepy in the U.S. you can triple in comparison to Mexico. Drug addicts in the states can afford drugs, in Mexico you will be painting a spot and a homeless guy will be watching you and be cool as long as you supply him with a spritz of that silver paint every now and then to maintain that high. It’s pretty depressing to see a human being that low.

That Inspector Gadget piece you did at Hudson Valley was dope. Where did the idea for that come from?

That idea was actually given to me by my girl and she is going to be super hyped that I admitted that haha. I was sitting on the couch thinking of a theme to paint, pretty unsuccessful, and she gave me the idea for an inspector gadget themed piece. Loved the concept and took it from there.

What writers have influenced your style over the years?

For the most part, my crews. I was always fortunate enough to meet up with dope writers along my way and they were the ones who really pushed me the most to points I probably wouldn’t have gone without them encouraging me to. Starting off Dang UK and Taks WL were the guys that really pushed me as far as finding my style, and getting out to go bombing with Slakr SG and Dibz SG (RIP). I then moved and started painting with Cent IMOK and Evak IMOK who really put me into that competitive mindset, and really start taking it as serious as you could get writing on other property.

What do you prefer to do more as far as styles? Throw ups? Hand styles? Pieces?

It depends on the mood that I’m in and where I’m at. I love doing big nasty fill-ins on a main road after a night out with the boys and I love kicking it in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful day taking my time on a piece.

That canvas you did for Sandy Hook was awesome. Did you ever send that over to them?

That was for Sandy Hook charity. It was a while ago so I don’t remember the full details, but there were a group of artists given one of the children who had passed away and I was given Noah Ponzer. The work was held on display at a show and then brought to the school apparently.

What would you say was your most thrilling experience painting? I know it’s a difficult question only because most nights out are always a thrill.

That’s a tough one to answer… Probably the time Siler HCNK, Beits HCNK, and I were out bombing in Mexico City. We were painting the federal highway in a pretty lit up area when the cops rolled up on us quick. They throw us in the back of the cop car and start driving away from the spot. I’m thinking “Damn I’m going to Mexican Jail,” pretty much the last place I want to be. Siler is smooth talking the cops who are asking for $300 per person to walk away. At the end of it we wound up paying $250 pesos, which at the time was about $17. We then went back to the spot and finished the fill-ins in front of the police and walked away. To Siler and Beits it was just another encounter with the police, but I had never bribed a cop before so that was a crazy experience to be apart of.

How do you feel about floaters? I feel like their harder to accomplish/ come out clean from my experience…

I have a love hate relationship with floaters. Some of my favorite pieces of graffiti I have seen are floaters on the streets but when I see people only painting abandons with floaters it erks me. Don’t get me wrong I will paint floaters every now and again at a spot simply because I don’t want to paint over anything that may have been there for years. Its when I go to a big spot with plenty of walls and see floaters above some ill pieces is what I am not a fan of.

Does your family know you write, or has it been a well-kept secret?

Yea my whole family knows for the most part. It was kind of hard keeping it a secret getting popped a bunch, but for the most part they like it. My mom being a professional artist and my father who is anti-government actually appreciate what I do at times. Obviously a graffiti writer may not have been their first pick, but considering what was around me it was kind of inevitable.

Anyone you want to give a shout out to?

Shout out to the whole IMOK crew, Cent and Evak who are my big brothers, Jick who’s like a mentor in a way. Another goes out to the HCNK crew in Mexico, like Siler, Dunk, Beits, Saicr who showed me the wild side down south. Definitely a shout to the SG crew in Hawaii, Taks and Dang who put me under their wing when I was wet behind the ears, Slakr who was always down to get out and go. Rest In Peace to the big bad Andreis “Wicked Whyme” Costa!

Thank you so much for the interview EGOR!

#EGOR #EGORE #Graffiti #IMOK #IMOKCrew #Mexico #Hawaii #NYC #HDCrew #ESQ #HCNK

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